Yes, as others have said, Realms of the Dead is still coming out. Why it's coming out so long after Unholy, I have no idea. But my story is set between Undead and Unholy, and fills in the details of something you may have wondered about if you read the latter.

Erg: My story is set when the Spellplague is winding down. The worst is over, but there are still aftershocks.I have no idea what anyone else wrote about, so I can't answer your second question.Ali: While I was working on The Year of Rogue Dragons, I suggested to Phil Athans that we could do a trilogy that showcased the undead of the Realms in the same way that TYoRD showcased the dragons. He liked the idea, and The Haunted Land grew out of that. As these things will, it diverged from my original exceedingly vague notion along the way. I hadn't originally intended it to be a story about Thay and Thay alone. But WotC wanted a Thay trilogy, and the two ideas got fused together. To good effect, I hope.

The titles came later. We had just done The Rage, The Rite, and The Ruin because people at WotC thought that having each of the books be The R___ made for a good cover design. I don't remember anymore whether they suggested using a similar motif for the new books, or whether I did. I do recall that I originally suggested Unknown, Undead, and Unholy. They didn't like Unknown, and I had a heck of a time thinking of anything else even vaguely appropriate. At one point, I suggested Uncola. I thought we could do the first FR novel with product placement and generate some extra revenue, but alas, other didn't share my vision. Eventually I came up with Unclean, and everybody thought that was okay.

First of all I want to say, that I really like what I read from you so far!

Black Bouquet was actually my first FR novel. During a stay in Asia I saw several FR novels in a bookstore and thought: "Give it a try, but better donīt expect anything from a 6 dollars book"... Well, I was mistaken. I liked it a lot. Very nice city atmosphere (!), good main character, really good book!

Just recently I found out that the setting takes place in the Border Kindoms that do not appear on my Faerun map, so I searched in vain for quite a while.

Q: Was there a special reason for you to pick the Border Kingdoms? And why this city in particular?

Year of the Rogue Dragons from my point of view lost a lot of its potential. I like atmospheric setting descriptions with love for details. In general your style fully complies with that, but I guess the trilogy was just too epic and thus the whole writing became more macro, especially because you certainly had restrictions on the total of pages. The story itself was very good and I liked the characters a lot!

The Haunted Lands has been absolutely amazing so far! I haven't read Unholy yet because I moved to another country and am facing a logistics problem , but time will come.

Q: I would like to know what you think about the monks of the long death? You had them in Black Bouquet and again in Haunted Lands. I guess everyone will agree that this character class is certainly not very "mainstream" in the realms so I dare to suspect, you have developed a certain liking to them or they provide you some special benefits in the story arc.

Q: What makes them special and interesting to you? How did you first hook up with them? And how did these monks influence the birth/the design of the two characters from Black Bouquet and Haunted Lands?

Thank you very much in advance for your answers!

"You make an intriguing offer, one that is very tempting. It would seem that I have little alternative than to answer thusly: DISINTEGRATE!" Vaarsuvius, Order of the Stick 625

skychrome: Thanks for the kind words. I'm glad you're enjoying my stuff.If I recall correctly, the reason I picked the Border Kingdoms as a setting was that my editor mentioned that there hadn't been much fiction based there. When feasible, I like exploring parts of the Realms that other novelists have more or less left alone. There's been a lot of FR fiction over the years, and maybe this tactic helps my stuff stand out from the crowd at least a little bit.I went with Oeble in particular because Black Bouquet's a story about thieves, and Oeble is full of them.I believe I first stumbled across the Monks of the Long Death when I was flipping through one of the sourcebooks, looking for things that were interesting and that I might be able to fit into future stories. I liked the idea that they have a devotion to death not for any practical purpose but rather for a purely mystical one. That's nice and creepy! And, I like monks in general. They have interesting, formidable abilities. So I wrote about a couple of them. In particular, Malark's outlook and background made him a good fit for The Haunted Land.

quote:Originally posted by Richard Lee ByersWhen feasible, I like exploring parts of the Realms that other novelists have more or less left alone. There's been a lot of FR fiction over the years, and maybe this tactic helps my stuff stand out from the crowd at least a little bit.

I think that's a really good approach! I feel it gives the realms a sensation of infinite gaming and writing options, when there are real adventures of any kind to be lived everywhere, no matter how far from Waterdeep or Cormyr!

quote:I went with Oeble in particular because Black Bouquet's a story about thieves, and Oeble is full of them.

Do you remember, which sourcebook(s) you used for your investigation?

I liked the city very much plus your ability to provide an intense city atmosphere to the reader. Involving the roofs of the city plays an important part in this. Have you by the way ever read City of Thieves from Ian Livingston (Fighting Fantasy)? Great benchmark for chaotic cities.

What I also liked about how you put Oeble is, that it provides a feeling of freedom as it is not set in an organized kingdom, where they inmediatley hunt you down in a radius of hundreds of miles when you messed something up in the city.

quote: I believe I first stumbled across the Monks of the Long Death when I was flipping through one of the sourcebooks, looking for things that were interesting and that I might be able to fit into future stories. I liked the idea that they have a devotion to death not for any practical purpose but rather for a purely mystical one. That's nice and creepy! And, I like monks in general. They have interesting, formidable abilities. So I wrote about a couple of them. In particular, Malark's outlook and background made him a good fit for The Haunted Land.

Totally agree, Malark makes a really interesting character with this background. I like that he is much more than he appears to be. Calm, experienced and down to earth... of course his age plays an important role but he is very well developped.

Miri on the other hand is the extreme version of the monks. Is there a specific reason why the Black Bouquet book has such a high value for the monks to retrieve it at all cost?

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"You make an intriguing offer, one that is very tempting. It would seem that I have little alternative than to answer thusly: DISINTEGRATE!" Vaarsuvius, Order of the Stick 625

As I recall, Oeble's not detailed to any great degree in any of the sourcebooks, but fortunately for me, Ed Greenwood wrote a lot about it in a series of articles he wrote about the Border Kingdoms. I think those articles ran in Dragon Magazine, but I'm not absolutely positive. (Please forgive my faulty memory. But it's been years since I wrote Black Bouquet, and I've written a lot of other stuff since.)I haven't read City of Thieves. If I can find a copy, I'll check it out.The Monks of the Long Death want the book back for two reasons. The first is the same reason everyone else is after it: In purely objective terms, it's very valuable. The second is that taking it from them was an affront to their goddess, and that has to be corrected.

quote:Originally posted by Richard Lee ByersI haven't read City of Thieves. If I can find a copy, I'll check it out.

There exists a book with the same name. The City of Thieves I refer to is from the 80s written by Ian Livingston and it is basically some type of solo adventure where you read on according to the choice you picked at intersections.

quote:The Monks of the Long Death want the book back for two reasons. The first is the same reason everyone else is after it: In purely objective terms, it's very valuable. The second is that taking it from them was an affront to their goddess, and that has to be corrected.

Thanks Richard! I was just wondering why those monks actually collect treasures and what this has to do with their ideology? I mean, it is a book about perfume after all, so I wondered why it is precious to them and their beliefs.

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"You make an intriguing offer, one that is very tempting. It would seem that I have little alternative than to answer thusly: DISINTEGRATE!" Vaarsuvius, Order of the Stick 625

I suppose that on the most basic level, collecting treasure doesn't have a lot to do with the Long Death ideology. But then, on the most basic level, it doesn't have a lot to do with the teachings of most real-world religions, either, and that doesn't stop them from amassing wealth. I figure that most institutions, whatever their ostensible purpose, eventually find a use for money and ostentation.

Hello Richard.I'm very glad seeing you here. Here at Brazil, we dont see writers answering theirs readers... It`s VERY gratificating to know that if i have some question that you could answer, it will be done...Well, I'm starting a campaign of making FR Novels more famous here at Brazil, cause even not being translated, many people like me could read in english...

I already asked Mr. Kemp and Elaine to send a message for us brazilian readers, but either did not make it, so, now its time to ask it for you... ;) What could you say to those who never read or listened of you, but are in love with FR novels? (90% of FR brazilian readers, knows only Salvatore and Sir Greenwood)I'll post your message on every community and foruns that i`d found.

Changing the subject...I've read unclean in 4 days... At in 2 days i've read 170 pages of Undead.. I'm truly addicted on your books! You shouldn't make us feel this way. lolAnd I have 4 questions for you:1st) I didnt catch the description of Aoth... How do you see him?2nd) What about you next trilogy? Will it be on FR Campaing set? If not, whats your plain on the Realms?3rd) What do you think about the transition to 4ed? 4th) Do you play D&D? Are you a DM? If yes, which edition do you play?

Hello to all the Forgotten Realms fans in Brazil! My name is Richard Lee Byers, and I write Forgotten Realms fiction. I'm generally not very comfortable aggressively promoting my own work. But a friend has kindly offered to relay a message to you, and I'd be foolish to pass up the opportunity. So here goes:

I'm told that most of you have only read the Forgotten Realms novels of Ed Greenwood and R. A. Salvatore. I hope you'll consider taking a look at my stuff as well. I won't claim that it equals the work of the author who created the Realms, or that of the writer who chronicles its most popular hero. But I can honestly say that many readers in the U.S. and elsewhere enjoy it, and that I always try to capture the spirit of wonder and high adventure that the Realms are all about.

You can read one of my short stories and sample chapters from my novels for free on the Wizards of the Coast website. Thanks for putting up with this note, and have a great day.

Now, the answers to your questions:

1. Aoth is short and stocky. Like other Thayan aristocrats, he shaves his head and has tattooing all over his body. The tattoos are either runes or abstract designs, not pictures. His features are strong and rather homely. By the end of Undead, he has weirdly luminous blue eyes and tattooing on his face. The facial tattoos make a pattern with his eyes as the focal points.

2. The next FR fiction from me will be a story in the anthology Realms of the Dead. It will relate to The Haunted Land, and tell of an incident that happens between Books Two and Three. After that, in 2010, I have the first novel in a new FR trilogy is coming out.

3. I've only played 4e a few times, so I don't feel like I can pass intelligent judgment on the whole system yet. I will say that in some ways, it's more fun to play a fighter-type character.

4. I do play D&D and I do DM. My friends and I have three campaigns going. Two are 3.5 e and the other is 4e.

I don't sell autographed copies of my books. But if a reader mails me a book together with a self-addressed stamped envelope, or with money or coupons for postage, I'll sign it and mail it back. If you're interested in doing this, email me at rleebyers@mac.com and I'll give you the mailing address.I don't know if I'm allowed to talk about the next Realms trilogy yet. The publisher has a timetable for these things. But I promise that when I have permission to talk about it, the Candlekeep community will be the first to know. So keep checking in here.

The ship rate of a book to US, than back to Brazil would take too much money.. =DI prefer investing it on other books, cause I still have to purchase "Unholy"... But one day, when i got some extra money to expand, I may check the price and do it.

Thanks for everything, and I will keep checking news here at candlekeep.

edappel: Since the publisher actually owns the short stories (because they're set in the Forgotten Realms universe), I can't give you legal permission to translate any of them. You'd have to ask for that permission from Wizards of the Coast.If you go ahead with that, I recommend you ask for permission to translate "Serpentsong," the story that's being given away for free on the publisher's website. Since they're already giving it away for free, I don't see why they'd have an objection, although I can't guarantee they won't.